Independent Research Firm Recognizes OAT as Leading the Way for Early Adopters

Report Cites OAT’s “Impressive List of Early-Adopter Clients”

WALTHAM, MASS. – SEPTEMBER 1, 2004 – OATSystems, Inc., the recognized RFID Framework leader, has been recognized as having one of the leading products for early adopters of RFID technology, according to an August 2004 report from Forrester Research. The report cites several characteristics of the OAT platform, including data management, reader and device management, and product strategy.

According to the report, entitled “Evaluating RFID Middleware,” mandates from leading retailers and manufacturers have forced suppliers to put their RFID plans on the fast track, which means that firms must intelligently incorporate RFID data into applicable business processes. To help end-users select the best solution for their organization, the report examines product offerings from thirteen major vendors across three key dimensions using Forrester’s Wave™ methodology: Current Offering, Strategy, and Market Presence.

The rigorous scoring process, including more than 75 evaluation criteria, firmly established OAT as a Leader, the highest possible ranking. The report determined that early RFID adopters should favor solutions that include “…application features like EPC commissioning and track-and-trace tools.” The report also found that, “OAT has incorporated several of these application-like features into their products – which have been high priorities for their impressive list of early-adopter clients.”

Prasad Putta, Co-Founder of OATSystems, noted, “Through our collaborative work with dozens of leading retailers and manufacturers, OAT continues to set the standard for RFID solutions. We are pleased that, in the first rigorous evaluation of the RFID software category, Forrester has ranked OAT as a Leader. We aim to continue to lead this market with solutions that enable businesses to unlock the value of RFID across the supply chain.”

The report concluded, “RFID Middleware is here to stay,” noting that RFID middleware will become the central administration dashboard for deploying and configuring pools of RFID readers and other auto identification devices as well as coordinating them to avoid interference. The report further stated that tools like trading partner management, process automation, and data management, which are essential for building and managing more dynamic composite applications, will become must-have features.

About OAT

OATSystems, Inc. is the recognized RFID Framework leader, with software that empowers businesses to achieve competitive advantage from radio-frequency identification (RFID). As pioneers in the development of RFID technology, OAT has been setting the standard in RFID for over half a decade and is responsible for industry firsts that include the largest scale and largest scope of deployments, as well as the most innovative approaches to providing enterprise-wide RFID solutions. OAT’s multinational client base, which includes companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Gillette, consists of over 30 customers in retail, CPG, consumer electronics, manufacturing, life sciences, aerospace and defense. Headquartered in Waltham, MA, OAT has offices in Chicago, London and Bangalore and is on the Web at www.oatsystems.com.